Tag Archives: nanowrimo

Cannot Write Without: Adam Ezra

The question in the lagoon this month has been: What’s the one thing you cannot write without?

We’ve had a plethora of fabulous answers from writers all over the world. Today’s answer comes from Alethea’s favorite Troubadorious Noise Maker: Adam Ezra

The Adam Ezra Group released TWO live CDs this month. You can get both albums, signed by the band, by clicking this link right here. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

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Alethea & Adam (2011)

Alethea and Adam, 2011

My answer is “honesty.”

This answer may seem ironic, because simply put, it’s not true.

I can write a good lie as well as the next guy…

But for me…in order to be the kind of writer I want to be, I think it requires me to be brutally honest in the words I share with the people who receive the art I create.  I want to write from the place that is embarrassed by the way I look, and smell, and act sometimes.  I want to write from the place that is so very proud of the person I’m trying to be.  I want to write from the place in me that continues to fail.

I believe that all people are connected through the things we want, and need, and feel, and are ashamed of.  Whether I’m writing from first-person, or through another character’s eyes, I want to know them honestly.  I want to connect to some place of depth and determination inside of them, even when the story is light…even when I hate the person I’m writing about….especially when the person I’m writing about and hating is me…

I think it’s this process that pushes me to really understand my own struggles and helps me connect as powerfully as I can with my audience.

It is a process that can be both brutal and inspiring to me everyday.

Hells yeah…bring it on.

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The Adam Ezra Group (AEG) is not just a band; they are a force to be reckoned with musically, personally and socially. Selling records and tickets is important to AEG, but they are committed to changing the world with their songs and their actions along the way. Ezra and his band are activists and community leaders as much as they are musicians and songwriters. Ezra has spent time living out of a van, farming in Canada, volunteering for the relief effort in Kosovo, and practicing environmental geography in South Africa. Whether as a kitchen hand or carpenter, teacher, athlete, or traveler, Ezra crams it all into the music, always challenging our perspective and often teetering somewhere between the ballsy rocker and sensitive poet. Through their non profit organization, RallySound, AEG helps people organize live music events that inspire communities and encourage grassroots activism.

And Alethea loves every single one of them.

Cannot Write Without: C.E. Murphy

The question in the lagoon this month: What’s the one thing you cannot write without?

Today’s answer comes from fantasy author superhero: C.E. “Catie” Murphy.

*********************C. E. Murphy

“My computer,” although that’s not actually true, as I have been known to use pen and paper when necessary.

“Peace of mind” is right up there too, if I want to be writing anything productive

There’s really very little I can’t live without for writing, if I’m determined to write!

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Bestselling author C. E. Murphy was born and raised in Alaska. She now lives in her ancestral homeland of Ireland, which is a magical land where it rains a lot but winter never actually arrives.

Find out more about Catie and her complete body of work at: http://mizkit.com/cemurphy

Books by CE Murphy

 

Cannot Write Without: E.C. Myers

The question in the lagoon this month: What’s the one thing you cannot write without?

Today’s answer comes from award-winning SF author and superhero : E.C. Myers.

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I can’t write without a keyboard.

I’ve tried writing fiction longhand, and it’s just too slow. It doesn’t matter if the keyboard is on a laptop or attached to a desktop computer or a tablet, or if I’m working on a word processor like my Alphasmart Neo — I just need keys to transfer words from my brain to a file!

I prefer clicky keys on a mechanical keyboard, the louder the better, but I can adjust to just about anything if I have to… even a chiclet keyboard.

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E(ugene).C. Myers is the author of the Andre Norton Award–winning Fair Coin and Quantum Coin, young adult science fiction novels published by Pyr, and The Silence of Six, a young adult cyber thriller from Adaptive Books.

Find out more about Eugene at his website: http://ecmyers.net

Cannot Write Without: Amber Lough

The question in the lagoon this month: What’s the one thing you cannot write without?

Today’s answer comes from fabulous YA author and current resident of Germany [WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO BE SO FAR AWAY???–Alethea] : Amber Lough. 

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lee & AMBEROne thing I cannot write without? That’s hard because I have been forced to be quite adaptable. Honestly, I can write on napkins on a boat if I have to. The ONE thing I must have is an alert brain. If I am sleepy at ALL, I will fall asleep on my keyboard.

It’s boring, but it’s the truth. I’ve been known to fall asleep mid-word and dream about the scene I’m writing about. The more rested I am, however, the better I can write.

Ideal situation: laptop, coffee, eclectic and comfortable Cafe, and headphones playing classical music.

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Amber Lough lives with her physicist husband and their two kids in Lower Saxony, Germany.

As a child, Amber moved about every two years and spent much of it overseas in Cuba, Japan, and Bahrain. She attended High School in North Charleston, South Carolina and studied Russian at Saint Louis University in Missouri before heading into the Air Force. She was an Intelligence Officer stationed in San Diego, and travelled the Pacific for her job. She also spent about 8 months in Baghdad, Iraq. After having her first child, she left the Air Force to begin writing full-time.

Visit Amber over at The Fourteenery and The Hanging Gardens where she contributes with other YA authors.